Overhead door



Aug. 16, 1938. J. B. CALDWELL 2,127,155

l OVERHEAD DOOR Filed June 24, 1957 .2 sheets-sheet 1 ATTORNEYS ug. 16, 1938. J B, CALDWELL 2,127,155

OVERHEAD DOOR Filed June 24, 195'? 2 sheets-sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 16, 1938 UNITED STATES OVERHEAD DOOR John B. Caldwell, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application June 24, 1937, Serial No. 150,175

2 Claims.

This invention relates to garage doors and operating means therefor and has for the primary object the provision of means which will permit a person with minimum effort to close and open the door with the door assuming a position substantially horizontal and adjacent the ceiling of the garage when open and to impart a limited vertical movement to the door when moving from a fully closed position towards an open position suicient to allow the lower edge of the door to clear obstructions such as snow, ice or ground raised by freezing before beginning its swinging movement to assume its horizontal or open position.

With these and other objects in View, this invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a rear elevation, partly in section, illustrating a garage door and an operating means therefor.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional View taken on the line 3 3 of Figure l.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral I indicates a garage, 2 the doorway thereof and 3 a door for said doorway. The door may y be of one piece construction or double doors may be employed and joined together by angle iron strips, as shown at 4. However, the action will be the same if the doors are joined or of a single unit construction. Therefore, the door hereinafter will be referred to as a single unit. The dimension of the door is such that it will substantially close the doorway but may slide and swing through the doorway. Suitable weather stripping 5 is carried by the door frame to cooperate with the door when the latter is in doorclosing position to exclude weather elements from the garage.

Plates 6 are secured on the door adjacent its upper end and form mountings for axles 'I on which rollers 8 are journaled. The rollers ride upon tracks 9 mounted on the garage adjacent the ceiling or roof thereof. The tracks 9 include substantially horizontal portions IIJ and vertical portions II. The vertical portions of the tracks are arranged adjacent the doorway.

A track I2 is mounted in the garage I for vertical adjustment adjacent to one of the tracks 9 and has an upwardly inclined portion. A weight supporting rod I 3, adjustable as to length, has a roller Ill which travels on the track I2. A counterbalance weight I5 is secured to the rod i3. Cables I6 are connected onto the weight and pass over pulleys Il adjustably mounted on the garage and also pass over a pulley Il'. The cables after passing over the pulleys are secured to the door adjacent the lower edge thereof. The lengths of the cables are such that the counteroalance weight I5 will assume a vertical position adjacent the door when the latter is in an open position and be substantially supported by the track I2.

Rods I8 are hinged on the door adjacent the lower edge thereof and are slidably connected to members IS, the latter being journaled in brackets 26 mounted on the door frame. Stops 2| are secured on the rods I3 to abut the members I 9 after a limited sliding movement of the rods.

Clips 22 are secured to the door torv engage fingers 23 as the door assumes a substantially closed position for the purpose of holding the door firmly against the weather strips.

Hand grips 24 are secured on the inside and outside of the door. In operation, assuming the door to be in a. closed position, the operator slides the door upwardly for a limited distance which distance is suiiicient for the lower edge of the door to clear any obstruction on the floor of the garage or the driveway approaching to the garage. wardly, the latter pivoting on the plates 2t and with the aid of the counterbalance weight the door travels on the horizontal portions I0 of the tracks 9, assuming la position within the garage adjacent the ceiling so that the doorway will be fully open. The door assuming an open position places the counterbalance weight, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, which acts to maintain the door in an open position so that to` close the door the operator must pull outwardly on the door. During the initial movement of the door from its closed position, the rods I8 slide relative to the members I9. After this limited sliding movement of the door the stops 2| engage said members I9 which limits further sliding movement of the door and then causes said door to swing with the plates 24 acting as the pivots for the door and at the same time the door slides inwardly of the garage.

What is claimed is:

The operator then swings the door out- 1. A door operating mechanism for a garage door comprising horizontally arranged tracks mounted in a garage adjacent the roof thereof and including vertically arranged portions located adjacent a doorway of the garage, a door, rollers journaled on said door and engageable with the track, counterbalance means connected to said door, rods journaled on said door, members journaled on the garage and slidably receiving said rods, and stops carried by said rods to abut said members to bring about swinging movement of the door in combination with a sliding movement on the tracks after said door has been slid for a limited distance in a vertical direction away from a floor of the garage.

2. A door operating mechanism for a garage comprising a door, rollers journaled on said door,

tracks engaged by said rollers and secured to a garage, an inclined Weight track located in the garage and supported thereby, a Weight supporting rod slidable on said last-named track, a counterbalance Weight connected on said rod, means for connecting the weight to said door, said rst-named tracks including vertical and horizontal portions, rods journaled on said door, members journaled on the garage and slidably receiving said last-named rods, and stops on said last-named rods and engageable with said members after a limited vertical sliding movement of the door to cause said door` to swing and slide along the horizontal portions of the firstnamed track to assume an open position Within the garage.

JOHN B. CALDWELL. 

